


2018

by burrfication



Series: 2020 [5]
Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Blind Date, F/F, Past Abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-16
Updated: 2019-02-16
Packaged: 2019-10-29 22:15:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,889
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17816507
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/burrfication/pseuds/burrfication
Summary: Five years after her disastrous encounter with Alexander Hamilton, Maria is ready to start dating again. But finding a girlfriend is harder than finding a boyfriend, and Maria doesn't know where to begin. When a friend offers to set her up on a blind date, she takes the chance. She expects it to be a disaster. What she did not expect was Eliza.





	2018

**Author's Note:**

> Strictly 2020-verse, but can be read as a generic modern AU. The story of how Maria and Eliza get together despite a difficult shared past.

There were lots of things in life Maria regretted. But for one instant, there was no decision she regretted more than the one that led her to walk through the door of the latest trendy bar to open in New York.

She had expected some regret. A blind date was more likely to lead to disaster than blossoming romance, but Maria had been in a desperate situation. It was one thing to decide she was going to exclusively date women: it was quite another thing to find a woman to date.

It was a problem Maria had no idea how to tackle. All her life, men had flocked to her. She had never had to take an active role in any relationship, something that had undoubtedly contributed to the never-ending disaster of her love life. They had showered her in praise and affection, and she had mistaken liking that attention for interest. Men had inserted themselves into her life, and she had been naive enough to let them. It had been easy to do. Her lack of protests had been taken as encouragement, and more than once she had found herself in a relationship with no idea how she had gotten there.

When she had decided to break the cycle and take control, she come to the realization that as interested as they may be in her, Maria had little interest in men. She liked the idea of men well enough. There were plenty of celebrities she found enchanting, and she had always assumed she would fall in love when she met the right man. That had led to nothing but mistakes. She had thought herself in love with James, but it had been fear; she had thought herself in love with Hamilton, but that had been dependency. She had thought herself in love with all of her male friends at some point or other. It had not been until she considered the idea seriously that she had realized the idea of a romantic or sexual relationship with them repulsed and terrified her. Whatever brief flickers of interest may distract her, she had no real desire to be with men. What she did have was a previously undiscovered appreciation for women.

It was an attraction she explored slowly. She tried out different labels, immersing herself in the culture and history of women who loved women. Over time, she had gravitated towards one label. There was only one word that seemed to encapsulate Maria’s experiences, but she could not bring herself to speak it aloud until she could say she had dated at least one woman. Once again, Maria found herself caught by her past. She did not have the faintest idea how to flirt with women. All she had ever needed to do was stand there and let men take the lead, and sooner or later she would end up in a relationship. Women were different. Even if she found a woman who was also interested in women, Maria did not have the slightest idea what to do next.

She began to despair of ever finding a girlfriend. She found herself complaining at length to any friend willing to lend a sympathetic ear. It all seemed unreasonably difficult. So when a friend had offered to set her up on a date, she had jumped at the chance.

She might have thought twice if she had known her blind date was Eliza Schuyler.

At first, Maria had assumed it was a mistake. Bad luck and bad timing must have brought them to the same place for unrelated reasons. But the longer she stared at Eliza, the harder it was to believe that. To begin with, Eliza was seated at the agreed table. More tellingly, Eliza had clearly put time into her appearance. Her dark hair had been pinned half-up, while the rest tumbled gracefully over her shoulders. Maria forced herself to stare at the hair and not the shoulders themselves, slender and exposed by the neckline of her dress. She looked stunning. If not for their shared past, Maria would have been floored by the idea that this beautiful woman might be her mystery date. As it was, her heart sank.

The sound of Maria’s boots clicking against the floor prompted Eliza to look up from her phone. Her eyes widened and her mouth set into a hard line. An apology was on the tip of Maria’s lips, but instead of apologizing she blurted,

“I’m going to kill Melissa.”

Eliza’s lips twitched. It was a tiny smile, but a smile nonetheless. “I did tell her this was a bad idea. How did she trick you into this?”

“I didn’t take much convincing,” Maria admitted. “I figured it couldn’t be worse than dating sites.”

“And yet here I am.”

“No, that’s not what I meant, I -”

In the face of Maria’s panicked apology, Eliza laughed. “I know that’s not what you meant. But it’s true.”

“I don’t know. From what I’ve heard about dating sites, it could have been a lot worse.”

A pattering sound started up as they spoke, but Maria had ignored it until there was a roll of thunder so loud it made the building shake. She saw Eliza jump. Under better circumstances the sight may have induced some sympathy in Maria, but she was too busy facing her own despair at the weather. The rain fell in heavy sheets. Even if Maria could make it across the road to her bike without getting soaked, there was no way she could ride safely in this weather. She was trapped in the bar until the weather cleared.

Another roll of thunder made Eliza flinch again. Maria stared at her for a moment before making up her mind. “Fuck it. I’m getting a drink. What’s your poison?”

“You’re buying me a drink?” Eliza asked.

“We can sit and pretend to ignore each other if you’d prefer. Either way, I’ve got my eye on one of those fancy looking cocktails.”

There was a pause as Eliza considered what to do. Once she made up her mind, tension eased out of her expression. She pulled out her purse and offered Maria cash in exchange for a pint. Maria accepted, and ten minutes later they were sitting opposite each other with their respective drinks: Eliza with her pint, and Maria with an alcoholic, sugary monstrosity that was topped off with fairy floss. For a few moments they sat in silence. Another clap of thunder rumbled and Eliza flinched a second time. Maria felt another stab of empathy and, without further consideration, took it upon herself to distract her.

“So, let me tell you about those online dating disasters I was trying to avoid.”

She had an abundance of stories to share. She avoided the tragic examples from her own past, instead focusing on on more uplifting and entertaining stories from her friends. There had been a woman who had brought her pet ferrets on the first date; a man who had been convinced aliens were watching them, and another who had claimed exclusive sexual attraction to people with an IQ over 120. The stories never ended. It was not long before she had Eliza first smiling, then laughing aloud. Maria could feel a grin tugging at the corners of her lips. Eliza’s laugh was not elegant: she would giggle and snort, then blush at her own undignified sounds. Most importantly, she was distracted from the storm. She would still start at thunder, but she did not have time to dwell on her fear. Every time Maria caught sight of a flash of lightning, she launched into another ridiculous story.

As she relaxed, Eliza started to contribute her own stories. None of them were as absurd as Maria’s tales, but they were entertaining nonetheless. Once Eliza started talking, conversation flowed easily. The topic varied as the evening progressed, with no fixed pattern or recurring themes, flowing with an even tempo. They agreed often, but not so often that conversation was dull; and when they disagreed, it was never on anything too dreadful. From the topic of dating they moved on to bad date locations, and then dreadful dining experiences in general. That led to a discussion of tipping practices. Not even the inevitable dip into politics that followed that was able to spoil the mood, despite their being precious little to celebrate in 2018.

They veered back to safer topics after that. Eliza mentioned plans to set up a small rooftop garden, an idea Maria jumped on. The lush multitude of plants in Maria’s apartment were the thing that changed it from ‘livable’ to ‘nice’. If she had the money or space, she would have loved to set up a proper garden, but she had neither. Instead, she made do with rescue plants passed on to her from her friends. Maria had the uncanny ability to bring almost any plant back to life, a fact that her less competent friends took advantage of.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Eliza said with a coy smile. “I don’t have the best track record with plants. I’ve killed every plant I ever touched.”

“But you’re trying to start a garden,” Maria pointed out. She could feel a grin tugging at the corners of her lips.

“I’m never going to get better if I don’t try. And I’m sure I’ll find someone to help me figure things out.”

The comment struck Maria as odd, but she did not dwell on it. It was true enough that plenty of people knew about gardening, and the internet was a near limitless resource. Eliza would have no problems finding someone to help her. But there was a shy little smile on Eliza’s face when she said so, and Maria was certain there was something she was missing.

Two hours passed before Maria thought to check her watch. When she did, she felt herself flush. The raging storm outside had long since died down to a slow drizzle, leaving Maria with no excuse to remain sitting across from Eliza. She stayed anyway. She was enjoying herself too much to think of leaving just yet. Another hour slipped by before the rain passed entirely and the last of their excuses to linger dried up. Eliza had work the next day, and Maria had assignments to do. Neither of them could afford to stay out late.

“Before you go,” Eliza said. “Will you tell me something?”

Dread pooled in Maria’s stomach. She could only imagine what Eliza wanted to know. It was not how she wanted to end the night, but after such a pleasant evening, Maria could not bring herself to say ‘no’ to Eliza. She nodded.

“How many of those bad dating stories did you make up?”

Of all the things Eliza could have asked, that was not what Maria had been expecting. “None of them.”

“Come on. Even the woman who stole all the spoons from your friends apartment?”

“Even her,” Maria said. The anxiety faded, and she found herself grinning at Eliza and biting her lip. “My friend has lousy taste.”

Eliza raised an eyebrow. “You’re telling me all those stories came from the one person?”

Maria couldn’t help herself. The flood of relief combined with the extreme disbelief on Eliza’s face was too much for her, and she laughed so hard her sides ached. When she glanced back at Eliza’s face, she was trying to hold back a smile, and that set Maria off again. When they finally pulled themselves under control, there was a moment of silence. The two women stared at each other. Maria was keenly aware of the huge grin on her face, and Eliza’s face was flushed and warm. A few strands of hair had fallen free from her neat bun. It softened her features, and Maria caught herself staring. As soon as she realized, she broke eye-contact. She gave Eliza her answer while looking away,

“All those stories were true, and most from the same friend. He’s a mess.”

“I never would have guessed,” Eliza said archly. Maria hid a snicker. “Well, thank you for sharing them.”

“Glad to. I had fun tonight.”

As soon as she heard herself speak, Maria hid a wince. ‘I had fun tonight’ had to be the clumsiest way imaginable of expressing herself. Maria was not eloquent at the best of times. To her eternal dismay, her ability to speak sensibly seemed to disappear the minute she was in front of an attractive woman. She felt tongue-tied and clumsy. Her mortification only eased when she heard Eliza say,

“I enjoyed myself, too.”

Maria risked a look up. Eliza was smiling at her, the expression uncertain but almost hopeful. Maria returned the smile in kind.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

The two of them stared at each other. Maria could feel her face flushing, and she wondered if Eliza’s heart was pounding as hard as hers.

“Well,” Eliza said at length. “My train leaves in five minutes. I should go.”

“Right,” Maria said. The two of them nodded at each other once more. It was only after Eliza left that Maria groaned and smacked her forehead against the table.

This was unfair.

The mere memory of Eliza’s giggle was enough to make Maria’s face flush, and she could not get the sound of her voice out of her head. Eliza had been charming, witty and patient. The time had slipped by almost unnoticed, and if Eliza had not had to leave, Maria suspected they would have stayed until closing. Had circumstances been different, Maria would have been elated. She would have asked for Eliza’s number and arranged a second date, maybe even walked her to the station. As things were, Maria knew better than to get her hopes up. Eliza would never look twice at her. She had every reason to distrust and dislike Maria, no matter how much Maria may dislike the idea. She had already ruined Eliza’s life once. She had spoiled any chance of dating Eliza years ago, before she had even known to want it. This was her fault.

As soon as the thought popped into her head, Maria scowled. The apportionment of guilt and blame for her past mistakes was a constant source of distress for Maria. The truth of the matter was simple: what had happened between her and Alexander Hamilton had not been her fault. She had spent years teaching herself that. It was not a lesson she had fully learnt even now, when she had friends to support her and reinforce the belief. Her slip-ups were frequent and painful. Blaming herself was easy. It came naturally to her, and most people were perfectly willing to place the blame on her shoulders. Hamilton had made sure of that. For over a month after he had posted his account on Twitter, she had been unable to walk down the street without someone calling her a whore. It had taken her over a year to learn there were people who had believed her. It had taken another two to believe it herself.

Maria’s bike whined as she wrenched the ignition on too violently. She winced at the sound. Anger still seeped out of her at inopportune moments, all the more dangerous for the way it took her by surprise. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Counting backwards from ten always felt silly to her, but her calmer friends swore by it. They had a point. By the time she hit zero, the anger pressing inside her skull had faded, leaving only exhaustion. She pushed the exhaustion aside and focused on the evening she had spent with Eliza. Much to Maria’s surprise, that was enough to summon the strange, floating feeling she had left the bar with. A smile tugged at the corners of her lips. She could scarcely believe how pretty Eliza had been when she laughed. The expression had lit up her entire face, crinkling the corners of her eyes and turning her cheeks pink.

A giddy smile remained on Maria’s face all the way home. It was not until she had removed her makeup, washed her face, brushed her teeth and fallen into bed that she realized the scale of the trouble she was in. She had spent all of a handful of hours with Eliza, and here she was, blushing and grinning and giggling like a girl on her first date. Under better circumstances, the observation would have delighted her. Maria had never felt like this before. The blushing, the giggling, the peculiar lightness in her chest - she’d thought it was all a lie. She’d been lying every time she had batted her eyelashes and giggled at a man’s joke. She’d assumed other women were doing the same. Even when her friends had convinced her attraction was meant to feel good, she hadn’t been prepared for this. She was giddy, high off the very thought of Eliza. It felt wonderful. It was better than Maria ever could have believed, worth every bit of fuss and difficulty that went along with relationships. Maria would have done anything to keep riding that high. And therein lay the problem.

Eliza was entirely out of her league.

Even in better circumstances, Maria would have struggled to believe a woman like Eliza could be interested in her. Eliza was everything Maria was not. She was beautiful, refined elegant; kind and patient, even when people did not deserve it; and, to top it all off, educated and eloquent. And then there was Maria: struggling to make rent and only starting college in her late twenties. She had been a disaster from day one. Eliza could do better. She deserved better, especially after everything Maria (everything _Hamilton_ ) had put her through. But that did not stop Maria from wanting.

*****

“So? How did it go?”

Maria eyed her friend suspiciously. In all fairness, Melissa had had no way of knowing about Maria’s history with Eliza - but Maria was in no mood to be fair. Two days had passed since her blind date with Eliza. Maria had spent most of those two days alternating between frustration and the addictive, giddy glee she felt at the mere thought of Eliza’s smile. Maria had fallen hard and fast.

If anyone else had arranged the date, Maria would have assumed it was a very cruel prank. But while Melissa was many things, she was not cruel. Maria suspected she did not have a cruel bone in her body. She had decided to befriend Maria the very first time they had met, and none of Maria’s discouragements or outright warnings had done any good. When she learnt why the other students in their floristry course avoided Maria, it was _them_ she dropped, not Maria, and had done so without hesitation. She had stood by Maria ever since. As far as Maria was concerned, she’d earned the benefit of the doubt. The only question that remained was how to break the truth to her.

“We’ve met before. She used to be engaged to Alexander Hamilton.”

Melissa’s face was blank. It was all too easy to forget that most people did not get a spike of adrenaline at that name. Maria gave herself a moment to take stock of her reaction: pounding heart, flushed face, dizzy head. Not attraction, not as she had once thought, but either fear or anger. Even now, she was not sure which. Whichever it was made her tongue sharp when she continued,

“He was the first lawyer I asked to help with my divorce. He was kind to me, and I was stupid enough to think that was a reason fuck him.”

A frown appeared on Melissa’s face. Maria braced herself. So this was it. After years of friendship, she’d finally found the thing that would push her friend away.

“I wish you wouldn’t talk about yourself like that. It’s not your fault some fucking creep decided to take advantage of you.”

“He didn’t,” Maria started, but then hesitated. She’d be lying if she said he hadn’t taken advantage. “It wasn’t malicious,” she said instead. “He wasn’t trying to hurt me.”

“They never are,” Melissa said. “That doesn’t change what they do.”

“He didn’t know what he was doing. I’d forgive him if he hadn’t turned the affair into front page news. There were reporters outside my house for two weeks.”

Maria watched as Melissa’s face went through a series of contortions indicating confusion, horror and above all cold, blinding rage. A muscle twitched beneath her left eye, and her hands clenched into tight fists.

“Maria. I know I’ve said this about a lot of guys you’ve got a history with, but I really think murder might be our best option here.”

A smile spread over Maria’s face, and she found herself struggling not to laugh. “Melissa - “

“I’m serious. You’ve got that fancy lawyer friend, he can deal with the legal shit. I’ve got that crowbar I keep under the bed. We can make this work.”

The laughter Maria had been holding back burst out, and that was the beginning of the end. Melissa started to make grander and grander claims, all for the purpose of making Maria laugh. The words were all in jest, but Maria could not help but marvel at the underlying sentiment. She still struggled to believe anyone would take her side. The thought was enough to bring a smile to her face in spite of the ache in her heart.

“As tempting as the offer is, it wouldn’t fix anything. It wouldn’t change what we did. Eliza has every reason to hate me after everything Hamilton and I did. The two of them were engaged.”

“Fuck.”

“She was pregnant.”

“Fuck.” The curse was more emphatic the second time. There was a pause, and Melissa said, “I didn’t know she had kids.”

“She doesn’t. I heard something went wrong with the pregnancy.”

The two of them were silent for a moment. Maria knew nothing more about what had happened to Eliza’s pregnancy, but she had her suspicions. She could only imagine the emotional toll the affair must have taken on Eliza. To find out her fiance was cheating on her was one thing - but to find out when she was pregnant? Maria did not like to consider what kind of affect that might have had on the baby. That did not stop her from considering it, late at night, when her heart was heavy with guilt.

After a long silence, Melissa spoke. “I’m sorry. I wouldn’t have tried to set you up if I’d known.”

Maria managed a crooked smile. “It’s not your fault. If things were different, I’d have been thrilled.”

The look of pity Melissa sent her was almost unbearable. Maria turned away and found an excuse to leave shortly after. She had learnt long ago that dwelling on the past only led to pain. She had things in life to focus on beside love, and she would be content with those for the time being.

***

As inconvenient as Maria’s crush on Eliza was, she could not deny it had done one good thing: it had cemented her conviction in her sexuality. Over the next few days, she found herself thinking of Eliza often. It was not intentional. She would be absorbed in some other activity when she would find the sound of Eliza’s laughter at the forefront of her mind. The thought of her smile was enough to bring a shy smile to Maria’s own lips - at least, until she caught it and banished both the thought and expression. It was embarrassing. Maria had never felt this particular kind of giddiness before. The flush of happiness and anticipation were entirely new to her and dangerously close to addicting. It was distracting, and it did not come without a pang of regret. If Eliza had been anyone else, Maria might have been able to enjoy the excitement with no caveats. Instead, she found herself thinking about missed opportunities and past mistakes. But even so, there was something soothing about the thought that this rush of emotion was because of a woman. It was harder to doubt her attraction to women when she was so smitten.

Despite this, Maria managed to pretend for a whole week that she was not disappointed to lose contact with Eliza. All pretense went out the window when she received a text from an unknown number.

>>> Despite what Melissa seems to think, I had a good time last Wednesday. Do you want to get coffee on the weekend?

>>> Eliza?

Even though her response was only one word, it took Maria three minutes to find the courage to hit send. Her heart pounded in her chest. Eliza’s response came almost immediately.

>>> That’s right. Melissa gave me your number when I went in to buy flowers. She seemed to think you wouldn’t mind.

>>> I’d like to get coffee. Where abouts?

>>> There’s a new place that just opened in Brooklyn. I can send you the address. How about Saturday at 11:30?

>>> Perfect!

Eliza’s response to that was a string of emojis that made Maria grin. It was not the best timing for her, but Maria would be damned if she let her second chance at Eliza slip away. She would just have to reschedule the rest of her weekend. The more she thought about it, the more guilt threatened to destroy her resolve. Saturday mornings followed a schedule that had remained unchanged for over a year. Abandoning her friend for a date seemed an incredibly selfish move. Maria felt as if her throat was closing up, guilt weighing her down and catching her breath. It took more effort than it should have to send a text to her friend explaining the situation. It took three hours for her friend to respond - not an outlier by his standards, but enough for Maria to have plenty of time to assume the worst. When he did finally reply, he called rather than texted. She answered the phone immediately.

“Aaron. You’re not mad?”

“Of course I’m not mad,” Aaron said, and even through the phone there was enough warmth in his voice that Maria believed it. “I can survive one yoga class alone. It’s wonderful news. I know dating has been difficult for you.”

“You have no idea how hard it is to find a girlfriend,” Maria said seriously.

“I have some idea,” Aaron told her. “Although I will concede the sources of our problems are quite different. Do you want to talk about what you have planned?”

There was curiosity in his tone, but Aaron did not push the matter. Maria considered it for a moment. As desperate as she was to share her amazement at the situation, she wanted to wait until she knew what Eliza wanted first.

“Can I tell you on Sunday?”

“Of course,” Aaron said. “I can’t do brunch on Sunday, but Bellamy’s coming over for dinner. You’re more than welcome to join us.”

Maria agreed, and the conversation wrapped up quickly after that. Although Aaron would always make time for her in a crisis, Maria hated taking too much of his time. Between his new role in a law firm and his five year old daughter, Aaron had very little time to himself. Even if he seemed happy to forget this and push himself to a state of exhaustion, Maria was not. She rationed her time with her friend carefully, and never once mentioned the care she took.

As Saturday loomed closer, Maria’s anxiety about the date grew. She knew how to make herself look pleasing and tempting to men, but she had learnt that women were another thing entirely. Women were unpredictable. It was a double-edged sword. Yes, it was a relief that Maria was not expected to hide every flaw and blemish under an inch of makeup, but that left Maria with no idea as to what Eliza would appreciate or expect. In the end, she settled on the same light coverage she had worn for their blind date. The exception was the bright red lipstick she smeared across her lips. It was the colour she had always worn to boost her confidence, and that much had not changed.

It took Maria a full hour to choose her outfit. She changed three times before she was happy, wildly varying the aesthetic each time. She did not just want to look good: she wanted to look like a good match for Eliza. Picking that out was much harder. Although Maria’s self esteem was higher than it had ever been, she struggled to imagine the word ‘elegant’ applied to herself, while Eliza seemed to be the epitome of the concept. It was not until Maria caught herself staring at an old dress that men loved and she hated that she realized she was approaching this from the wrong direction. She changed one final time, abandoning dresses in favour of her favourite pair of jeans. She could look good without leaving her comfort zone. She would meet Eliza as herself, and not whatever fantasy she thought Eliza would find most pleasing.

Maria arrived at the cafe five minutes early. To her surprise, Eliza was already there. She smiled when she saw Maria approach, waving her over and gesturing for her to take a seat.

“I’m glad you came.”

“I’m glad, too,” Maria said, then flushed at how clumsy her response was. Eliza smiled brightly at her. She asked Eliza how her week had been, and the awkward moment passed. Maria listened to Eliza’s stories with genuine curiosity. It was hard to imagine a world more unlike Maria’s own. As a paediatric psychologist, Eliza’s days were filled with children in desperate need of help. Maria could not imagine anything more disheartening. Trauma and illness had been hard enough to deal with as an adult; she could scarcely imagine how difficult it must be for a child to cope with. The stories must have been heartbreaking. But Eliza somehow flourished amidst the despair, helping each patient to heal and grow.

“You must be a genius,” Maria said in open wonder. Eliza flushed and protested, but Maria persisted. “You’ve got to understand all those different conditions and all those different people. You have to deal with the science and empathy. Most people struggle enough with one.”

“It’s not always easy,” Eliza told her. She stared down at her coffee and took a small sip before changing the topic. “What about you? What do you do?”

Maria’s heart sank. “Well. I never got my degree, so I went back to college.”

After everything Eliza had accomplished, Maria  
was certain her own story must sound pathetic. But Eliza’s face lit up. “That’s wonderful news! What do you study?”

“I’m in my second year of a botany degree,” Maria admitted. Bit by bit, Eliza extracted the details from Maria. She admitted she had started in the same floristry degree as their mutual friend Melissa, but had dropped out after just six months. The course could not have been a worse fit. The pace at which they had moved through the material seemed incredible to Maria, while the material itself had been dull. The readings had been bad, and the classes even worse. Her questions about the plants they were using were dismissed as irrelevant, while Maria had been bored to death with the content. She wanted to know about how roses worked, not that red meant love and yellow infidelity. After months of complaining about this to her friends, some of them had pointed her towards science. It was not a discipline Maria had ever considered as a possibility. Scientists were supposed to be smart and serious, not silly women like her. As soon as she said this, Eliza frowned.

“I don’t think you’re silly.”

Maria flushed. “I don’t know. But that’s what Ja - what people always told me. I didn’t know better for a long time.”

“I’m glad you do now,” Eliza said. There was so much earnest warmth in her voice that Maria felt flustered, smiling and embarrassed all at once. What could she say to that? Fortunately, Eliza seemed to recognize her predicament. She steered the conversation to safer topics, asking Maria about the different kind of plants she had studied. This was firmer ground. Maria shared her knowledge freely, determined to convince Eliza of just how wonderful nature was. As she gushed, she noticed Eliza’s hand resting in the middle of the table. Once noticed, her eyes kept returning to that same point. Should Maria take her hand, or would that be too forward? The fourth time she glanced at Eliza’s hand, Eliza made eye contact when she looked back up. Maria’s breath caught in her throat. The dizzying elation she felt so often at the thought of Eliza was stronger than ever. It was so close to fear she nearly panicked, but despite her thumping heart Maria felt incredible. Eliza’s smile grew as they stared at each other. The moment broke when the waitress delivered their coffees to the table. As delightful as the feeling had been, Maria could not deny she was relieved. She had been like a deer caught in the headlights, entirely dependent on Eliza to make the next move. With any luck, she would be better equipped when the next moment came.

Brunch turned into a three hour affair. Eliza did not seem inclined to leave, and Maria was more than happy to spend every possible second with her. Maria was enthralled. Rather than sating her curiosity, Eliza’s stories made her want to learn more and more about the woman. She paid close attention for mentions of Eliza’s hobbies or preferences. If Maria was to get what she wanted, she would need to impress Eliza before she got bored.

When Eliza finally insisted she had to leave, the two of them lingered outside the cafe. “That was nice,” Eliza said. When Maria agreed, a nervous smile spread over her face. “Was it just me, or was that a date?”

“Of course it was a date,” Maria said, before realizing they had never specifically said as much. Before she could worry she had made a mistake, Eliza’s face split into a beaming bright grin. The two of them made plans to meet the next weekend, this time on the Friday evening.

When they said goodbye, Eliza ran a hand down Maria’s arm and kissed her cheek. The two of them then went their separate ways. People looked at Maria strangely as she wandered down the street with a smitten smile. Her cheek felt warm where Eliza had kissed it. The gesture had put other thoughts into Maria’s mind, like holding hands or, even better, kissing Eliza’s mouth. Her stomach did flips at the idea. Her mind ran over possible scenarios again and again. Each one filled her with joy, an observation that she could not help but wonder over when she compared it to her past relationships. She had been on two dates with Eliza, and Maria was already more in love than she had been in her entire life. Instead of being terrified by the unknown, Maria found herself excited. She was not sure where this burgeoning relationship with Eliza would lead, but she could not wait to find out.

**Author's Note:**

> My ultimate goal is to extend this into a multi-chapter piece. Unfortunately I have a lot less time for writing these days, so that may never happen. Now that I have enough for it to stand alone, I'm sharing what I have to help others starved for wlw content.


End file.
